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J. KURTZWORTH.

GRAIN DRIER.

No. 592,530. Patented Oct. 26,1897.

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J. KURTZWORTH.

GRAIN DRIER.

No. 592,530. I Patented Oct. 26,1897.

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Q; i I j a r l THE NORRIS P T R CO FMOYO UTHO WASHINGTON O C ATENT JOHNKURTZVORTH, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

GRAIN-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 592,530, dated October26, 1897.

Application filed November 27, 1896. fierial No- 618,619. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN KURTZWORTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain Driers, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements ingrain-driers of that class in which the grain is carried in alternatelyopposite directions by means of spiral conveyers and subjected to theaction of heat in its passage.

It has for its object, among others, to provide a simple and cheapconstruction of drier of this character which shall occupy minimumspace, it being in the form of a shallow rectangular case, to whichconnections may be made and by means of which a large amount of graincan be handled and dried morethoroughly and evenly in a short space oftime.

Areceptacle is mounted upon the drier, and means are provided ,forrevolving the same and stirring or mixing the grain as it is fed to thereceptacle, the exhaust-steam being utilized for heating this revolvingreceptacle. From this receptacle the grain is conveyed to the uppermostof the series of spiral conveyers, some of the conveyers being connectedwith a source of hot air and the shafts there of being made hollow andperforated, so that the hot air is forced through the same and broughtinto direct contact with the grain as it is conveyed through the tubesof such conveyers. The grain moves alternately in opposite directionsuntil it is finally discharged at the lower end of the casing.

The tubes and conveyers are surrounded by a jacket for containing hotair, and exhaust-steam from any suitable source is utilized for heatingthis air.

The. conveyers may be revolved by any suitable means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear inthe following description, and the. novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the1et ters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisspecification, and in which-- Figure 1 is a front elevation with partsin vertical section and portions broken away, showing my improved drier.Fig. 2is an end elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a detail of one ofthe casings and the conveyer therein.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in all of the views.

Referring now to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates thecasing or jacket, which may be of any suitable material and dimensions.A is the top thereof, and beneath the bottom is a chamber B,within whichis arranged a coil of pipe 0, connected with a blower D, by which air isforced into said coil, which latter connects With the 110tair conduit E,as shown.

F is an inlet for the steam, adapted to be connected with any suitablesource of live or exhaust steam, and this inlet or pipeF empties intothe chamber B, so that the air within the coil in said chamber isheated, and the exhaust-steam, after serving its purpose within thischamber, passes upward through the jacket or casing around the conveyersand their pipes until it arrives at the partition f, separating theupper compartment afrom the lower compartment to of the casing. Theexhaust-steam finds its exit from this lower compartment to through theexterior pipe F, whichextends upward outside the jacket or case, and itsupper end has the horizontal branch f, which empties into the verticalpipe G on the upper end of the upper compartment of the jacket.

H is the rotating receptacle in which the grain receives its preliminarydrying. It has the horizontal partition it near its upper end, ontowhich the wet grain is adapted to be deposited, in this instance a spoutI-I being shown, through which the grain is adapted to be conveyed ontosaid partition of the rotating receptacle. The band or vertical flangeIt remains stationary, while the remaining portions of the receptaclerevolve. This band or flange may be supported in any suitable manner andhas the outlet-opening 71 disposed over the conduit I, which leads tothe conveyor. The exhauststeam enters through the horizontal branch f ofthe pipe F into the interior of this receptacle and is deflected by cleto mix and agitate the grain as the receptacle is revolved and to forceit out through the opening h down the pipe Iv into the easing or conduitK, in which is arranged the initial spiral conveyer K, the shaft is ofwhich is mounted in suitable bearings as seen best in Fig. 1, and at itsinner end carries the bevelpinion L, meshing with the bevel-pinion L,which is fast upon the lower portion of the receptacle, as indicated inFig. 1, and revolves about the pipe G, resting upon the lugs or bracketsor bearings g on said pipe, as indicated best in Fig. 1.

' At opposite ends of the jacket or case are the compartments A A whichare subdivided by the partitions a which are alternatel'y arranged, asseen in Fig. 1, so that the grain as it is carried by the conveyers fromone end drops into the compartment below at the opposite end, where :itis taken up by a-reversely-moving conveyer and conducted to the otherend, and thus the grain is caused to traverse from end to end of thedrier until it finally emerges from the discharge-spout M, which is atthe lower end of the casing and upon the side opposite that to which thegrain enters and opposite that at which the initial conveyer K islocated, all as'seen clearly in Fig. 1.

The conveyers N in the upper'com-partment a of the case 'or jacket havetheir flights mounted upon hollow perforated shafts 71, mounted insuitable bearings, and each of these hollow shafts is connected bysuitable connections with the branch E of the hota-ir conduit E, as seenclearly in Fig. 1, so that the hot air is forced through theperforations and acts upon the grain as it is being carried through thedevice.

0 is an outlet for the moisture from the grain as it is driven off bythe :hot air and the steam within the casing. V Motion may be given tothe various conveyers in any suitable manner from any source of power.(Not shown.) Theshafts of these conveyers are'shown as extended andprovided with sprocket-wheels'l over which -a chain or 'chains may bepassed, so as to give the necessary alternately opposite motion to theconveyers.

The :pipes or casings Q within'which the Conveyers revolve maysometimesbe corrugated, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to increase the heating-surfacethereof, if desired.

llhe hot-air'conduit E is connected by lateral branches'e withthe-compartments of the lower compartment of the case at one-endthereof, as seen clearly in Fig. 2, and these connections are at rightangles to the connections with the extension E of such hot-air conduit.

Modifications in detail may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a grain-drier, the combination with the main drying-casing, of arevolving receptacle mounted above the same, means for heat- .ing saidreceptacle, and a conveyer operatively connected to rotate saidreceptacle and to convey the material being dried from the receptacle tothe main drier, substantially as described.

2. In a grain-drier, the combinationwith the main drying-casing, of arevolving receptacle mounted above the same, means for heating saidreceptacle, a stationary mixer arranged within the'receptacle, and aconveyer operatively connected to rotate said receptacle and to conveythe material being dried from the receptacle To the main drier,substantially as described.

3. In a grain-drier, the combination with the main drying-casing, of arevolving receptacle mounted above the same, a steam-pipe entering saidcasing, a steam-exhaust pipe communicating with the casing andreceptacle, and a conveyer operative'ly connected to rotate saidreceptacle, substantially as described.

4. In a grain-drier, the combination with the main casing, of arevolving receptacle mounted above the same, a steam-pipe entering thecasing, a steam-exhaust pipe communicating with the casing andreceptacle, a deflector-plate within the receptacle, and a conveyeroperatively connected to rotate said receptacle, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a grain-drier, the combination with the casing and its conveyors,of a steam-pipe entering the casing, a revolving receptacle, asteam-exhaust pipe communicating with the casingand emptying into thereceptacle, a deflector-plate within the receptacle, means for revolvingthe receptacle and the initial conveyer arranged beneath the receptacleand operatively connected therewith; substantially as described.

6. In. a grain-drier, the combination of a casing and its conveyers, ofa revolving receptacle, a stationary mixer depending therein, a rimhaving an opening-opposite said mixer, means for revolving thereceptacle, and a stationary conductor from the receptacle to aconveyer; substantially as described.

7. The combination with the casing and a conveyer mounteda-bovethesa-me, of a bevelpinion --on the shaft of said conveyer, arotatable meceptacle, and a bevel-pinion on the lower-end thereofengaging the pinion on the conveyer-shaft; substantially as described.

8. The combination with the casing having compartments and a chamber'benea'th the IIO same, of the steam-pipe entering said chamher, thehot-air coil Within said chamber, the hot-air conduit connected with allof said compartments and the spiral conveyers having hollow shaftsconnected therewith; substantially as described.

9. The combination with the casing having compartments and the conveyerstherein, of the hot-air coil beneath the casing, the steampipe enteringa chamber beneath the casing, the exhaust-steam pipe leading from theupper portion of thecasing, and the hot-air eonduit leading from thelower portion of the casing and having connections with all of thecompartments thereof; substantially as de scribed.

10. In a graindrier, the combination of a casing having compartments andthe conveyers, of the hot-air conduit having connection with a portionof the compartments of the casing and with the hollow, perforated shaftsof the upper conveyers; substantially as described.

11. The combination with the casing and the conveyers mounted formovement in alternately opposite directions, the rotating receptacle andthe initial conveyer operatively connected therewith, of the hot-aircoil, the hot-air conduits, the lateral branches therefrom, thesteam-supply pipe, and the exhauststeam outlet-pipe; substantially asdescribed.

12. The combination with the casing and the revolving receptacle mountedat the upper end thereof and the initial conveyer operatively connectedwith said receptacle, of the spiral conveyers, hot-air conduits, thesteam-supply pipe and the steamexhaust pipe emptying into the chamber ofthe receptacle; substantially as described.

13. The combination with the casing and the revolving receptacle mountedat the upper end thereof and the initial conveyer 0peratively connectedwith said receptacle, of the spiral conveyers, hot-air conduits, thesteam-supply pipe and the steam-exhaust pipe emptying into the chamberof the receptacle, and a stationary steam-exhaust outlet communicatingwith the chamber of said receptacle; substantially as described.

14. The combination with the casing and the revolving receptacle mountedat the upper end thereof and the initial conveyer operatively connectedwith said receptacle, of the spiral conveyers, hot-air conduits, thesteam-supply pipe and the steam-exhaust pipe emptying into the chamberof the receptacle, a stationary steam-exhaust outlet communicating withthe chamber of said receptacle, and a horizontal deflector-plate withinsaid chamber between the inlet and outlet of steam; substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN KURTZVVORTH.

Witnesses:

J AS. H. MEETEER, J OI-IN GAUrsoHY.

